This summer, I will become one of you. As I prepare to move, I'm trying to get as many perspectives on Chicago as possible. What would you want to know, if you were moving to your city? Where would you want to live? Where do you grocery shop? Any particularly friendly meet-ups or potlucks?

Thanks!

Feel free to PM me if this thread is deemed boring for anyone who is not moving to Chicago. :)

there is a pretty lengthy chicago thread already, but that is mostly for restaurants i guess. still might be helpful to you.

i live in logan square and i really like it! i live further west in the neighborhood, and near an elementary school, so there are lots of young hispanic families on the blocks around me which i think is great, but the more "hip"/increasingly gentrifying part of logan square is further east, and the really hip neighborhoods are even further east. if i didn't live here i'd probably want to live in pilsen or roger's park. but i am pro cheap rent and living in places that aren't almost entirely white, and don't mind commuting a little bit farther because of it. there are other neighborhoods that are more vegan friendly and more conveniently located for working and going out.

where you live might also depend on how you like to transport yourself. i bike most places but occasionally take the cta. i'm a 10-15 min walk from the blue line, which is great for going to the airport or sometimes to the loop, but not very convenient for me to get anywhere else, which is fine since again, i bike. if i didn't want to bike i'd want to live closer to the train, or maybe off the red line. if you have a car, parking could be real difficult in some areas too.

i shop mostly at mexican supermarkets in my neighborhood, but occasionally make trips to stores all over the city for various things. gluten flour and nutritional yeast and such- whole foods has the best prices. for cheap produce i go to stanleys when i have the inclination. there's an awesome korean market with 99 cent a pound tofu near me so i stock up on tofus and soy sauce and such there. once in a while i head to uptown or rogers park to get mock meats at a vietnamese store or spices and lentils from an indian place. there's so much stuff in chicago, and i like making a treasure hunt out of grocery shopping! but most of the time i just go to a neighborhood grocer that's cheaper than the big regional chains (jewel and dominick's). lots of corner stores near me carry soy and almond milk too. being vegan in chicago is such a breeze!

i hear the chicago vegan meetups (from meetup.com i think) are huge. i've never been to one though; i knew a ton of chicago vegan folks before i moved here, so i haven't really had to seek out new vegan friends here i guess.

The Vegan Chicago meetup is a great way to meet other people or simply try out some new places to eat.

I live in Irving Park, right off the Blue line because it's convenient for work. I also bike a lot so getting around in the city is pretty easy. I moved here last June and am still learning a lot about where to go and where to live. I started out in Lakeview and parking is terrible, so keep that in mind if you have a car.

Shopping I get produce delivered via Door to Door Organics, vegan staple items I get at Whole Foods, and I fill in with other veggies/fruit from my local neighborhood Mexican market (very affordable!).

welcome (almost) to Chicago! Chicago has so many different neighborhoods that all have positives and negatives, and their own vibes. In my experience, many of the younger, out of college crowd gravitate towards wrigleyville/lakeview/lincoln park, and then slowly migrate farther west or North to roscoe village, bucktown/wicker park, Logan Square (at least that's what my friends and all did-then I got married and moved to the suburbs). I personally loved living in Old Town, but it was quite pricey. What area you move to will depend on where you work/go to school, reliance on public transit, and budget. Generally the closer you are to the lake, the more expensive the rent and the harder it is to park.

Chicago is a fantastic place to be a vegan. I don't know if I'm allowed to hawk another board, but http://www.plantbasedpeople.com/ is owned by Dave, who coordinates the Chicago vegan meetups, and there are tons of Chicagoans there. They are great folks too (I used to live there and attend the meetups).

As for where to live, I think it depends largely on what's most important to you. Do you need to be close to where you work, do you want to be near an artsy crowd, or clubs, etc. Are you looking for a diverse neighborhood, one that's gay-friendly, near the beach, etc. etc. I spent some time both in Lincoln Park, which was sufficient except for a seriously psycho roommate (I mean, like made for TV movie worthy) and Chinatown. I landed in Hyde Park, which I absolutely loved (enough that the man and I occasionally talk about moving back). There's a nice hfs, a grocery store, loads of live music nearby and good access to the Loop via express bus or the Metra. There are gobs of beaches nearby, and they are much less crowded in the summer, partly because there are fewer tourists and (my suspicion is) partly because of the racial makeup of the beaches on the far south side. You get that nice college/uni atmosphere too..lots of community involvement. Anyway, I've gushed enough, but to me it's an absolutely wonderful place.

If you have questions about anything feel free to PM me! I've lived in a few of the city's "hot" neighborhoods (Logan Square, Andersonville, Lakeview) and I spend way too much time thinking about grocery shopping and things like that.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I'm here, in Edgewater, and I love it. Also, I should make some friends. So if you like knitting, or reading, or writing, or theatre, or laughing, and want to meet up, you should pm me.